The Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi is among the most active and interesting conductors of his generation. His work is characterized by a constant curiosity and a sensitive yet revealing approach to the music, with a refreshing combination of intellect and—in the case of Gustav Mahler—explosive spontaneity. He also stands publicly in opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, posting almost daily about the war on his Instagram.
He was born and raised in Tallinn, but had to leave the Soviet Union in 1980 along with his family, including his father, the conductor Neeme Järvi. They emigrated to the United States, where Paavo Järvi continued his education with Leonard Bernstein. After positions as music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, he recorded, in 2009, a Beethoven cycle with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen that shook up dusty interpretations and became a milestone recording of that repertoire. In 2011, he founded the Estonian Festival Orchestra in his homeland, with whom he plays an annual music festival in the port city of Pärnu—one of the best insider tips for music in the Baltic states. In 2019, he became music director of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich. He’s currently recording a Mahler cycle with the orchestra and touring with the Second Symphony. I met him in Cologne.
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